Author's notes:
I decided that I will write shorter chapters from now on (though this got longer than my envisaged 3500 – 4000 words). I had nobody complain about the length earlier on and I think that frequent updates are worth more than long chapters with a very long wait for you… Yes?
The long wait for this chapter (and also for the next chapter of my other story) is mostly due to a paper that needed to be written and also a slump. I had the feeling that it was no longer rewarding to write because of various reasons… Let0s just say that I got a bit frustrated…
Anyway, this chapter covers the events up to Kanda's fight with Skin (chapter 92 in the Manga).
Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 33: Vows In the White City
Ellen did not bother to listen to what the exorcists around her were talking about. Linali was constantly slipping in and out of consciousness but she hadn't been awake enough yet to recognize her surroundings. Ellen decided to wait patiently, focussing on her friend.
„It's a pity. First your hair and now Linali's..." Rabi commented, sitting down next to Ellen after having talked to Kanda for a short while. The Japanese also walked over to them, sitting down wordlessly. Ellen immediately felt something clench in her stomach. It was slightly uncomfortable to be near him after what she had said to him. She was not sure if she regretted telling him so soon and so bluntly, but she knew that she would not be able to rest until she knew what he was thinking. However, Kanda had not tried to talk to her after they had been called back. Ellen was on one hand glad but on the other hand she would have liked to have some sort of clearer reaction, no matter what. Something she could interpret better than a mere „Oh". Something which would help her to form further plans. She was glad for Rabi's distracting chatter.
„Yes... That is true..." Ellen mumbled after some time, touching Linali's feverish forehead gently, „I still find it quite surprising that she was able to defeat a Level Three Akuma all on her own... She is really strong..."
„Yes she is... But right now she is unable to control Innocence because she went past her personal limit... That's very dangerous... She was lucky that she is still alive after all that...," Rabi explained and Ellen looked at him in surprise. „She is in a similar situation like you were. I doubt that she is able to fight at the moment..." Ellen thought about that for a while. They were at a disadvantage.
They were in Japan, the Earl's base. It was quite dangerous to advance, especially with Linali not able to fight and defend herself. And even if they were all in perfect health... They were few in numbers and Ellen did not know what kind of forces the Earl had in store for them.
„It is how General Tiedoll says," Kanda commented, looking at Ellen, „the Cross unit should leave as fast as possible."
„Leave?" she repeated in surprise. The dark haired exorcist nodded, looking back down at Linali.
„You must surely be aware that Linali will only be a hindrance. And as I realized, this Miranda is quite exhausted as well, if she stopped her activation the injuries of the Cross unit would return. Imagine what would happen if this were the case when we are engaged in battle with the Earl and the Akuma," Kanda argued. Ellen looked at Rabi who nodded slightly.
„I'm afraid that he's right. We took quite some blows after you disappeared," Rabi informed her and she frowned in concern. She had been very glad to see Miranda again, but she was not entirely aware of her powers just yet.
„This might be the case with them but I am not injured at all. I just regained my Innocence, I have control over it and I have confidence," Ellen replied, raising her eyes to meet Kanda's „I am no longer the weak child I was back on our first missions... I have matured..." Kanda remained silent for a while, but then he shook his head.
„You might have matured over the months, but you didn't come here to die!"
„Of course not, did you?!" Ellen replied forcefully, which surprised Kanda, „I returned to be an exorcist because I need to protect humans and I need to destroy Akuma. I came to Edo because I was worried about you all. I am not stupid, Kanda. I know that one does not win battles by simply advancing when one has the chance to. I know that sometimes it is better to retreat and recover. However," she studied Kanda's face, „how could I retreat when you advance?" Kanda looked at her in surprise. Ellen was not ashamed to have spoken her mind this clearly, on the contrary, she was pretty determined to convince him.
„Beansprout..." Kanda said in surprise.
„Ahh... love is such a beautiful thing. I am envious...!" Rabi chirped and Kanda turned to him, glaring at him in annoyance.
„Shut up you dimwit!" he hissed and Rabi rolled his eyes, still grinning. Kanda snorted then he turned back towards Ellen. „If I can then I will return with you," he told her and Ellen was suprised by the honesty his face showed her, „rather than staying in this wretched country that makes even breathing painful to me because of memory's weight, I prefer to stay by your side anytime. However, if this is not possible then I would rather know you to be safe while I continue fighting..." Ellen was too awed with his kind honesty to even answer for some time, his words making her heart throb painfully. She felt... a strange longing in her to console him, to make him feel better.
„Kanda..." she started, putting her hand over his, trying to find words to express her gratefulness, but they just wouldn't come. She whispered a silent unsatisfying „I understand..." instead.
„Ah, Linali is waking up again!" Rabi said, glad that Linali's awakening could now break through this tension. He was no idiot, he knew humans well enough to be able to read those two. It would be quite simple, he thought, if they would just talk freely. Ellen took her hand off Kanda's and bent her upper body over Linali.
„Linali... Linali," she called gently, smiling when she saw her eyes fluttering open, focussing on her.
„Ellen...?" she asked weakly and Ellen nodded, „Ellen...!"
„Yes... I am sorry that I made you worry. I am back now..." she said, „And... I am sorry to have failed you..." Linali sat up and studied Ellen's face.
„Why are you apologizing...? Is it because of Suman?" Ellen lowered her head, „don't be sad... You managed to save him, I am sure of it. You tried your best..." She reached out her hand and stroked Ellen's hair gently. „I am glad that you are alright and that you are back..."
„I... Linali..." Ellen said, hiccupping slightly, embracing Linali, crying silently in both joy to be reunited with her friend and also because of past miseries.
„Don't cry Ellen. Everything's going to be fine," Linali soothed her, also crying, but smiling gladly. „You're back now...".
„Ah, dear Ellen! Don't cry!" Rabi laughed lightly, rubbing her back, „Yu! Do something!" Kanda snorted, but put his hand on Ellen's head, patting slightly. Ellen had to laugh now and pulled back, still holding on to Linali's hand. „Can't you do that a bit more romantically? Should I show you how it's done?" Rabi teased Kanda who just warned him with an irritated glare. Ellen looked up at Kanda and smiled.
„Thank you," she said and he coughed in embarrassment. Suddenly a chill went through Ellen and in the corner of her eye appeared a light. Linali's hands suddenly slipped out of hers and she disappeared into the floor. For just a split second she could look into the confused eyes of Linali, then her face disappeared in a black star sign on the floor.
„What...?" was the first whisper the white haired exorcist was able to form, but then realization hit her and she screamed in concern. „LINALI!" She reached for Linali's hand but got pulled in as well. She heard shouts but then she sunk into darkness. Here senses were gone, but then they returned just as fast when she heard someone – Kanda – calling her:
„Beansprout!", he shouted and she felt his strong fingers around her hand. They were floating in darkness. Far above she could still see light and some shapes plunging into the dark after her and Kanda. The dark haired man pulled Ellen to him, holding her tight, ready to fend off anything that dared to attack them. Neither was able to talk in this curious situation, but soon they saw light pierce the darkness and they landed in what Ellen soon found to be the Ark. She looked around in amazement, still in Kanda's firm hold, while he also tried to take in the unfamiliar surroundings.
„Where is Linali?" Ellen asked in concern. A loud sound of something hitting the floor and some groans were to be heard and the two whirled around to find a heap of people lying on the ground. Linali was just barely saved from being squeezed by Rabi, who had enough common sense to protect the unconscious girl while the other two had landed on him, still looking dizzy.
„Get off! Get off!!" Rabi wailed and Ellen, letting go of Kanda, found the other two to be Crowley and the young sailor she had learnt to be called Chao Zhi.
"Baron! How did you two get pulled in as well?" Ellen asked and helped both up to their feet so that Rabi could breathe again.
"You suddenly disappeared. It was just a reaction…" Crowley said and rubbed his head, Chao Zhi nodded slightly.
"Where are we?" Kanda wondered, walking over to Ellen, hand always on the sword hilt.
"We are inside Noah's Arc. I rode it to come from China to Japan," Ellen told him, "but I wonder why we are here!" Kanda frowned upon hearing her reply.
"Well then, if you rode it – how do we get out again?" Ellen looked at him and then she turned her head around, looking at the various buildings.
"Technically there are doors leading out. It might sound magical, but the doors in this town seem to lead to various places. I remember the door I came from and I know which door leads back to Edo – I can guide you once I see an alley I passed," she replied.
"But what was the point in drawing Linali in? There must be an ambush!" Rabi said and pulled Linali into a sitting position.
"Che! Damn it! There are two people that need protection if we are engaged in a fight!" Kanda hissed in annoyance, "And our movements are restrained because of Linali's damaged legs."
"Then we carry her," Ellen said, countering his angry face with quite a stern one, "we two alone suffice to fight, or have you not improved in the months separating us?" Kanda frowned at her tone, but decided to keep his complaints at bay.
"Ellen's quite head-strong! I told you she would surpass you if you don't pay attention!" Rabi laughed which earned himself a dark glare by his friend.
"This is not a question of superiority!" he shouted and Rabi grinned at him, while Ellen stayed quite solemn.
"No it is not. It is a question of efficiency. We two worked quite well together in the past. I will no longer need to be in your way now, nor will you need to protect me. We can both concentrate on fighting if we must, while the Baron and Rabi protect Linali and Mister Chao Zhi," she replied and it was not hard to guess that Kanda did not really like what she was saying. Ellen had to laugh when she saw his frown, "Why this sour face?", she asked cheekily, "Do you not trust this humble girl to fight well, Mister Kanda?". He gave her a light slap against the back of her head and she laughed in amusement.
"Cease talking like that you silly thing!" He told her and turned away, looking down at Linali, that's when he noticed something sticking out from underneath her. "Oi, Rabi! What's that under Linali?". Rabi looked up at him in confusion, but then he did spot a squeezed pumpkin umbrella. It coughed and opened its carved eyes.
"Ah! Off of me you stinking exorcists, Lelo!" While Rabi pulled Linali away in surprise, Ellen couldn't contain a light squeal of glee.
"My goodness! It talks and moves! How adorable! Kanda! Its face is a pumpkin!"
"I saw that, idiot! Why are you getting so excited over something this stupid?!" the young man asked in irritation. How could that girl be so serious at one moment and change to be stupidly girly in the next?! Honestly, he didn't get it – but because it was Ellen he found it charming.
"Ignoring that, this seems to be some toy of the Earl's. Tell us how to get out of here – where is the exit?!" Kanda said and pulled out Mugen, pointing it at the umbrella's face.
"Toy? How rude, Lelo!", but it trembled slightly at the sight of the blade so close, "t… There is no exit, Lelo…!"
"After a voyage of many years the journey of this ship nears its end." A voice suddenly came from the pumpkin. Ellen immediately recognized it at the Earl's. "Well done, Lelo! It is time to set sails, dear exorcists!". The umbrella trembled and then a huge shape of the Earl emerged, resembling a gigantic balloon. "You will go to the netherworld with this ship!" Once those words were said the town around them started to explode, the buildings crumbling and the ground shaking violently.
"What is happening here?!" Ellen called and took Kanda's offered hand for more steadiness on the shaking ground.
"You should better watch out!" the figure of the Earl said, floating over them, "The download of this area is completed, that is why everything starts to crumble."
"What?!" Rabi asked in a worried tone, while Kanda managed to stay calmer.
"What is it that you plan?" he hissed. The floating form of the Earl slowly moved upwards, out of grasp.
"This world will be sucked into the space between dimensions and disappear! And for you, with your limited scientific knowledge I will explain it like this: Three hours! That is the time you have left to spend in this world!" He said, the roaring of the explosions and crumbling buildings nearly swallowing his voice. "Beautiful girl! You really have some fine friends, have you not? So many of them came! All of them go this road with you. You do not need to be lonely!" Linali, steadied by Rabi glared at the Earl as soon as she realized what his words meant: She was destined to die here – alone – but her friends had tried to save her and were now doomed the die alongside her.
"Earl…!" Linali shouted in hatred, but the Earl's figure paid her no attention. He floated into the air, disappearing with the prophecy that the other humans will soon suffer a similar fate.
"Damn it. We have no choice, let's run!" Rabi suggested and handed Linali to Crowley so that he could help making the road free of debris. Ellen invocated and started guiding them, having Rabi smash the occasional house with his hammer.
"I will try to find the house with the door leading out!" She said, advancing fast, the others following the agile woman.
"But a huge number of houses have already been destroyed! Maybe the door is no longer standing!" Rabi argued.
"No chance!" Lelo said, flying after them, "this Ark is at its limits! It will take you nowhere!". The exorcist tried to ignore it as best as possible, but its constant nagging was hard to overhear. "There really is no exit, Lelo!" A huge explosion in their immediate vicinity shook them violently, forcing them to their knees. "You cannot escape this Ark! You will die here!" Lelo's exclamation hung heavy in the air. If there was no exit, then what? Were they really doomed to die here?
"Were all my efforts to get here and save everybody in vain? Will we really die in a place like this?" Ellen asked herself.
"There is one. An exit! Only one exit!" A voice behind Ellen said and she saw a hand appear next to her head, lightly holding on to an ornamented key. Ellen slowly turned around. "There is an exit", the man repeated. Ellen's eyes fell upon a man that she recognized but had never expected to meet in a place like this. "Boy!" It was the man she had met in the train away from Romania, though, upon closer inspection he seemed quite different. But she was not the only one who recognized him; Rabi and Crowley shouted in surprise.
"It is you, the gentleman we met in the train!" Ellen said in surprise, her voice drowned out the incoherent noises Rabi and Crowley made. The man looked at Ellen through his thick glasses, smiling silently. "Why are you here…?" Ellen asked. Of course, under different circumstances she would have been delighted to meet him again, but now she could not help being suspicious. What was a normal human's business in Noah's Ark? And next to that Ellen felt another kind of familiarity coming from him, but it was not joyful in the least: he seemed to her all at once threatening, dangerous and his presence made her heart beat faster because she felt as if her air had been cut off.
"Silence!" Kanda hissed to Rabi and Crowley. He put his hand on Mugen, "Ellen, get away from him. This man is filled with a lust to kill, no doubt about it!". The man grinned upon hearing that. Slowly he extended his hand and put it on Ellen's head.
"Boy…" He said, generously ignoring that Kanda unsheathed his Innocence, "Why are you still alive?" Ellen widened her eyes, but then the man suddenly moved and smashed his forehead against Ellen's with all his power. "Tell me!!" Ellen turned away, covering her throbbing forehead with her hands.
"You…!" she managed to shriek, but the guy interrupted her.
"Because of you I had to listen to stupid remarks of the Earl and the young ones!" Ellen took away her hand from her watering eyes, but then she widened them in horror when she saw his skin colour changing.
"So you need an exit? I can give you one!" The Noah grinned and wiped away his hair to reveal his stigmata. The exorcists gasped, while Ellen stared up at the man who had attempted to murder her. "The Ark no longer has one, but with Rhode's power we will make one!" A colourful door emerged out of the ground behind him. Ellen recognized it as a door Rhode had used before – back when they were trapped in a strange dimension with Miranda. "How about we continue our little game that we started back in the train? I bet this door against your lives!" Tyki proposed, "But no cheating this time, boy!" He said, glaring at Ellen with a menacing grin.
"What have you planned, Tyki?!" Lelo asked just next to Ellen and she widened her eyes. So Tyki was really the name of this Noah – Tyki, who had robbed her of her Innocence, tried to kill her and sent that Akuma to get her. Tyki… Tyki Mikk. And still it did not come to her why this name was familiar.
"This is the key to Rhode's door. I will give it to you." He said without paying attention to the umbrella. "Think about it! Though you really don't have time left for thinking!" A building fell, separating the exorcists from the Noah, but Kanda caught the key that Tyki threw at them. "I will enjoy this chase! The door will be put on the highest point of this down. If you manage to reach it before the building crumbles you win!"
Another violent explosion made the floor under them crumble.
"We have to find a safe place!" Kanda shouted, "let's run!". Crowley grabbed Linali and all of them ran as fast as they could. To find an area that had not yet been hit by the devastation was not easy to find, but eventually they arrived at a wide road that was not yet shook by earthquakes. They stopped to catch their breaths.
"We have no time to continue running!" Rabi said.
"We have only three hours left if the Earl is to be trusted," Crowley said and Lelo corrected with: "two hours."
"We have no choice. Let us use Rhode's key," Ellen suggested and turned to Kanda, "You have it, Kanda?". He nodded and presented it to her. She breathed in deeply, but then she took it out of Kanda's warm hand.
"Choose any door," Rabi said and Ellen nodded, walking up to one. She put in the key with a nervous hand and with a clack she turned it around. Instead of a lock springing open the door magically changed: its smooth surface was now covered by colourful paintings of rainbows and a butterfly. Ellen turned around, looking at the others; they seemed to be equally tense but ready to continue. The girl put the key into one of her uniform's pockets, then she took in a deep breath.
"Let us make a vow: we will get out of this Ark!" She put her hand in front of her. Rabi nodded and put his hand on top of Ellen's. Linali, Crowley and Chao Zhi did the same.
"Kanda?" Ellen asked, but he only groaned.
"As if I would participate in something this childish!" he snorted. Ellen, having expected this, only laughed a bit uneasily. They lowered their hands and Ellen went to the door. When she stood next to Kanda, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her near to plant a short kiss on her forehead. She blushed and looked up at him in surprise. He was also slightly embarrassed, which was visible by the faint red colour of his cheeks. Ellen had to laugh and pinched him slightly.
"Those two?" Crowley asked in confusion at this display. Rabi laughed and Chao Zhi looked pretty excited just like a young boy spying on a kissing pair.
"Pay them no attention, they are lovers reunited after a long separation!" Rabi chirped. Kanda rolled his eyes and Ellen gave an uneasy laugh. Were they really? Ellen looked up at Kanda but he only looked at her with adoration in his eyes even though he did not smile at her. The older exorcist turned away and pushed the door open, entering before Ellen. She followed him and found herself in a very strange place. It looked magical: there was a barren landscape with high rocks, but the sky was sparkling and colourful. It seemed as if the many rainbows, stars and candy coloured clouds where painted onto the sky with its many moons. Ellen did not let her guard down but she was awed while she tried to take in the impressions of this room.
"I wonder where we are," she said.
"Certainly not outside," Rabi commented. Ellen realized that Kanda had noticed something.
"Kanda?" she asked, standing next to him. He lifted his hand.
"Shh. Be quiet. Someone's here," he told her, loud enough for the others to be alert as well. And indeed. In the distance Ellen could see the shape of a man, just huger. It was a Noah she did not know, so much was clear to Ellen. He looked dangerous and strong. Ellen wanted to get ready to fight, but Kanda beat her to it.
"You go ahead!" he said, evoking surprise in the others, Ellen especially.
"What?"
"Yu, what are you saying?" Rabi asked in wonder.
"That's the guy who's after my General. I already know him. You go on and I will deal with him," he said calmly, drawing and invocating his sword. Ellen was still speechless, but then this room too was shook by an earthquake.
"Oh no!"
"We're still on the Ark!" Rabi said and Lelo agreed.
"The download of this room is not complete yet. If it is, it will dissolve," the umbrella explained and Ellen drew in a sharp breath when she heard that. She looked at Kanda, but he was perfectly calm. She didn't hesitate long and made her decision:
"I will stay with you, Kanda!" she said loudly which earned her a surprised yell from Rabi, but Kanda remained motionless. "You look for the exit. You have to go! We will come later!" she addressed her friends.
"Stop joking," Kanda snorted and glared at her. Ellen got angry at his stubborn refusal to let her fight alongside him. "This guy is my duty."
"Are you insane? As if I would let you fight against this Noah all on your own! This is idiocy!" Ellen shouted, but Kanda wouldn't have any of it.
"If you will not leave, then I won't hesitate to raise my blade against you," he threatened which didn't only shock Ellen, but also her companions.
"How cruel! How can you threaten your lover! She is only worried about you!" Crowley said.
"He's right!", Rabi agreed.
"Shut up you idiots…" Kanda hissed dangerously, then he turned back to Ellen whose lips had formed an indignant pout.
"I will not go." She said with determination.
"You must and you will," Kanda replied forcefully, "I will not discuss this with you. Either you go on your own accord or I will knock you down and then have Rabi carry you away." Ellen stared at him, then she sighed in frustration. Seeing how her resistance faltered, Kanda lowered his sword and looked at her with a milder expression.
"Understand me, Ellen…" he said, but Ellen did not say anything, "don't you trust me to win?". She shook her head.
"The thought of you dying fills me with horror. I feel how my entire body enters into a state of unbearable tension. Kanda – you cannot die! What would I – What would I do with you gone? My whole existence would be doomed…!" She hissed, not loud enough for her companions some meters off to hear everything she said. They kept out of this and the opponent – having already decided to fight Kanda - was in no hurry to stop their discussion seeing how the outcome was already clear. Kanda seemed a bit surprised by the vehemence of her desperation, but he could understand her. This was of course a matter of emotion, but more than this it was a matter of social survival for Ellen. If he died without having married her then she would give birth to an illegitimate child. And the shame of that, Kanda knew, would be unbearable for Ellen's family.
"Ellen…" Kanda said and the girl looked up, unshed tears in her eyes, "I do not plan on dying here. In you I have a reason to survive…" He lifted his hand and patted Ellen's head. "Trust me. And now go, I cannot fight if you stand in my way!". Kanda turned away and faced his opponent, who immediately charged up to fight.
"Ellen! Come! He has made his decision!" Rabi urged her, and pulled at her arm. Reluctantly she turned away and followed the others to another house.
"Kanda! If you do not follow then you have a stern scolding to expect from me!!" she shouted and he nodded at her with a slight grin, then she opened the door to a new room. One last glance and then she shut it. With the door closed after her, she clenched her fingers around the handle, resting her forehead against the glass.
"Ellen… You have to trust in Kanda…" Rabi told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. Ellen nodded.
"I do. Of course I trust him… However… Shutting this door after me…," she whispered, but then she shook her head and looked on, "let us go. We have to find the door as fast as possible!" The others nodded at her and the started to follow the dark, seemingly endless corridor. And every once in a while, even after the door was no longer visible, Ellen turn her head around. No matter how much she trusted Kanda, she could not get rid of the feeling that whether he would come back to be a part of her life or not depended solely on her.
To be continued.
Notes:
I don't think I will cover Kanda's fight with Skin. We already know that he is aware of his "responsibilities". I'm glad that I'll be able to skip a lot of fighting ;3
Other then that:
We got some more Kanda-Ellen interaction. It's been a long time and I wonder what you think about it. Drop me a review / PM / whatever suits you best so I know if you like it or not! :3